HEATHER Morgan is an American businesswoman who was found guilty of laundering billions of dollars in Bitcoin.
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Business minded
Heather went to the University of California to study economics where she developed an acute sense of how markets behaved and how financial modelling worked.
She earned a Master’s degree in economics of international development from American University of Cairo before moving to New York.
This academic background allowed her to kick start a career as an entrepreneur in her native America.
On her LinkedIn profile, Morgan describes herself as a “serial entrepreneur, prolific writer, and investor in B2B software companies with high growth potential”.
The entrepreneur eventually set up an email marketing firm named SalesFolk, which specialised in B2B email campaigns.
Morgan’s rap career
Morgan launched a rap career alongside her professional work and began referring to herself as the “infamous Crocodile of Wall Street”.
She often set her videos in New York’s financial district and would dedicate her songs to “the entrepreneurs and hackers, all the misfits and smart slackers”.
Morgan also dubbed herself Razzlekhan as part of her rap persona and adopted a wild and quirky way of dressing.
Morgan’s secret plot
Morgan found herself at the centre of the most controversial moments in the history of cryptocurrency.
She was accused, alongside her husband Ilya Lichetenstein, of laundering over $4.5 billion in Bitcoin as part of the 2016 Bitfinex hack.
The criminal couple were caught because Morgan made the mistake of using the stolen money to buy Walmart vouchers which alerted police to the entrepreneur’s involvement in the Bitfinex hack.
Morgan and Lichtenstein were arrested in February 2022.
Then, the police discovered that the pair had stolen more than 95,000 Bitcoins which each had a staggeringly high value.
It was revealed that the couple would split the currency into tiny amounts and deposit them in wallets under fake identities.
Then, they mixed their funds with criminal currencies on the darknet marketplace Alphabay and used their money to buy gold coins.
Finally, they established shell companies to make their Bitcoin look legitimate.
Public outcry
There was widespread public outcry from people who were both pro-cryptocurrency and those who are against the digital currency.
Those who support cryptocurrency felt that she had undermined trust in the resource, where those who were against the currency felt that she had revealed how easily financial crime could be committed through Bitcoin.
Morgan acquired yet another nickname because of the controversy: Bitcoin Bonnie.
The Biggest Heist Ever
Eventually, Morgan confessed to the crime and pleaded guilty in August 2023.
On November 18, 2024, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison for the crime.
Lichtenstein, who admitted to being behind the cryptocurrency hack, received a five year sentence.
Their sinister scheme will be explored in Netflix’s new documentary named Biggest Heist ever.
The 87-minute special will be available to stream from December 6, 2024.
